Department of Health and Social Care

Question

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the families of people with suicidal ideation have access to specialist advice and support.

Ms Nadine Dorries: From 2019/20 to 2023/24, we are investing £57 million in suicide prevention through the NHS Long Term Plan to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services. This funding for sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) and integrated care systems (ICSs) will be used to deliver multi-agency plans. The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health are working together to support STPs and ICSs with these plans.

Question

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure that people who have attempted suicide receive support to develop a safety plan that helps them to tackle their suicidal ideation.

Ms Nadine Dorries: From late 2021/22, NHS England and NHS Improvement intend to launch a self-harm Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) scheme, which enables commissioners to link a proportion of providers' income to the achievement of a quality improvement goal. This CQUIN will bring focus to the quality of interventions provided by mental health liaison services in emergency departments to ensure they are concordant with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, including offering: - biopsychosocial assessment of needs;- risk assessment; and- developing with patients a personalised and integrated care and risk management plan. The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health, which has recommended that all patients are followed up within three days of discharge from in-patient care. NHS England and NHS Improvement have now included 72-hour follow-ups in the standard National Health Service contract and regularly monitors the performance of providers.

Question

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) scheme; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the family members of people with suicidal ideation have access to ASIST training.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We have not made a formal assessment. From 2019/20 to 2023/24, we are investing £57 million in suicide prevention through the NHS Long Term Plan. This funding can be used by local areas for suicide and self-harm prevention activities and training, which could include ASIST training.

Question

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that relevant health professionals receive the training necessary to support patients with suicidal ideation to develop a safety plan.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We have not taken any such specific steps. We expect health professionals to receive sufficient training to reach the education standards set by the professional regulatory bodies. Health Education England has commissioned MindEd to provide suicide and self-harm prevention e-learning resources, including on structured care and safety planning in suicide prevention. The most recent module was published in April. All MindEd resources are available to both health and social care professionals.

Question

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the working relationship between the NHS and third-sector organisations that offer bespoke support to people with mental ill-health and suicidal ideation.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 acknowledges that voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, including suicide prevention organisations, play an essential role in the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan. Local commissioners and providers should therefore consider their existing relationships and commissioning functions with VCSE partners, the strength and sustainability of local VCSE infrastructure and how it can be supported.

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentres: Staff

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to ensure that Jobcentre users who are survivors of domestic abuse are able to choose the gender of their Work Coach.

Mims Davies: It is standard practice in Jobcentres, that should a claimant request a Work Coach of a specific gender or to change their Work Coach for any reason, then this request should be acknowledged, with few, if any, questions being asked of the claimant.

Question

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 25 March 2021 to Question 171674 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, what training decision makers receive on the Decision makers’ guide, volume 1, chapter 3.

Justin Tomlinson: The Decision Makers Guide, Volume 1, Chapter 03 is titled Revision. As part of their foundation learning, all new decision makers receive the following training on Revision:Decision Maker Foundation Learning Module 05: Common Decision Maker Subjects Part 2: Revision and supersession. This is a 3-hour session delivered by Learning Delivery Officers. This training aims to provide decision makers with the knowledge and understanding of the revision and supersession processes, the differences between them, what an application for revision or supersession is, and how to record the outcome of an application.In addition, decision makers who deal with mandatory reconsiderations and appeals undertake the following additional learning:Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals. This is a 12-hour session delivered by Learning Delivery Officers. This training aims to give decision makers the skills to make a mandatory reconsideration decision accurately and write the outcome clearly, addressing all areas disputed by the claimant.

Question

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 25 March 2021 to Question 171674 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, and the Best practice memorandum issued to decision-making staff involved in appeals lapsing, Quality focus August 2020: lapsing appeals (including in-part) and telephone calls, if she will undertake a sampling exercise to establish whether there are instances of decision makers calling claimants directly to lapse an appeal against the refusal of personal independence payments when those decision makers should have contacted the claimant’s representative in the first instance.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.